If there was a poll for the best-looking bridge in the country, I would probably give my vote to Cebu’s Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge. I said “probably,” because the elegant-looking Bamban Bridge is a very serious contender.

Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge connects the islands of Mactan to mainland Cebu across the Mactan Channel. It’s a cable-stayed type of bridge with two load towers 185 meters apart (easily visible in the satellite image). A cable-stayed bridge is almost like a suspension bridge, but instead of vertical cables connecting the bridge deck to a pair of Ã¼ber-long thick cables tied to the ends of the bridge, the bridge deck is supported by numerous cables connecting it to the load towers.

The bridge was constructed in order to alleviate traffic between the islands. Previously, only ferries and the old Mandaue-Mactan Bridge (seen about 1.2 kilometers to the southwest) was the way to go between Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City. The new bridge was finished in August 1999 and was named in honor of Senator Marcelo B. Fernan who died of cancer on July 11 of the same year. Senator Fernan resigned the Senate presidency shortly before his death.

I’m not sure, but I think this is the only bridge of its kind in the Philippines, and according to this Cebuano blogger, it is the longest of its particular class in the world.

According to my friend who’s originally from Cebu, the bridge used to hold the record for the longest central span for any cable-stayed bridge (i.e. the span not supported by the columns). It’s not exactly something to be proud of, but at least it’s still up!

It’s not apparent in photos in this post, but the bridge is actually arched. towards the middle (but it’s not that steep).